Use of free wireless Internet in Chinatown is slowly picking up, and coverage is expected to grow over the coming months, project developers said.

Over the last month, about 1,000 people have logged onto the system, which the mayor officially announced was online at First Friday festivities last week.

Offering free Internet in Chinatown is one of five large projects Mayor Mufi Hannemann pledged to undertake at a summit last year kicking off a revitalization of the community.

A statue of Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen is not yet installed in Chinatown.

Meanwhile, city officials are still searching for a private developer to fund a promised 80- to 100-unit affordable housing complex at 1331 River St., and an "arts incubator" for the community is in the planning and design stages.

The Hawai'i Arts Alliance got a $125,000 federal grant in July to develop a business plan for the arts incubator, which the city envisioned would complement Arts at Marks Garage.

The new incubator will focus on "21st century creative technologies," and will likely be funded with both federal and local money, said alliance executive director Marilyn Cristofori.

At the summit, the mayor also pledged to discuss the feasibility of a rail transit station in Chinatown. City plans call for a rail transit station to be installed on River Street, just outside the boundaries of Chinatown, Downtown Neighborhood Board Chairman Tom Smyth said.

Smyth said business in Chinatown is improving, and it appears the city's economic revitalization plans are working — even if the mayor's major promised projects are slow in coming.

"I think generally that the area is much safer, cleaner and busier now than it was in the past few years," he said. "I think that's a good sign. I've always felt that good drives out the bad."

The city saw setting up wireless Internet in Chinatown as one if its biggest designs for the community. If it succeeds, officials say, it will be exported to other neighborhoods.

Alenka Remec, a small business advocate for the city, who helped organize the Chinatown summit, said free Wi-Fi Internet in Chinatown is expected to draw more people to the area, keep them there longer and benefit residents and businesses.

"This is going to open up all sorts of opportunities," she said.

Locally based Tri-Net Solutions is offering the wireless Internet to the city free as part of a one-year pilot project. Aryn Nakaoka, president of Tri-Net, said he took up the project as a way to give back to the community.

"We're not making money on it," he said.

The Internet coverage area is within eight square blocks, bordered by Beretania, King, Smith and Bethel streets. About 25 antennas have been installed in Chinatown for the service, and there are plans to install more soon, Nakaoka said.

Free Internet through the system has been available since July, and usage is expected to increase now that the word is out.

About 100 users logged onto the system in the 24 hours after the mayor officially announced it was ready for use.

Nakaoka is now trying to publicize the free wireless among Chinatown residents who speak little or no English, he said.

For more information on the system or to find other free wireless Internet connections, go to www.kokuawireless.com.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.